Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984 but remained active for many years and made a moving appearance at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games where he lit the flame.

Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s “Rumble In The Jungle”

However, he was seen looking particularly thin and frail at the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony where he was helped across the stage by wife Lonnie.Ali’s most recent public health scare was December, 2011, when the champion was taken to hospital after falling unconscious.

Emergency services were called days after Ali made a frail appearance at the funeral of fellow boxing great Joe Frazier.

He was treated for dehydration after collapsing at his 6,000 sq ft estate in Arizona.

Rahman told The Sun from his flat in Louisville that before Ali’s health deteriorated, he said he was in no pain and was proud of his achievements.

Though Ali’s widow has not commented on the claims, Rahman says that his brother has requested a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. be inscribed on his headstone:

“I tried to love somebody, I did try to feed the hungry. I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.’ The Greatest.’”

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See “The Greatest” in a rare 1977 interview below. He touches on Christianity, violence in Chicago and what boxing would be like after he retires.

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